In Houston Going For #4

I'm interested to see if Chuck Hayes ends up guarding EB. I think he's one of those Moneyball players you mentioned.

Little off topic, but what do we think of the Andre at the 2 argument now? It might be an interesting question to address again, especially considering Thad's regression this season. I guess draft day will be a big factor as well. Just something I've been thinking about...

If Iggy is the best player on the floor, i really want see how Iggy plays in this game. Can he step up against two elite defenders in Shane Battier and Trevor Ariza, both of whom have been known to give wing players fits with their defense.

i also want to see the Elton Brand vs Luis Scola matchup. Luis is good hard nose player who welcomes a challenge ad never backdown.

Both of these guys are the highest paid players on the team and i want to see how they do offensively against two good defensive matchups.

If we have a talent edge why is Houston such a better team than us? Not only are they a better team than us, they're a much better team than we were last year with most of the same talent, arguably better talent even (last year's Andre Miller was at least as good a player as this year's Elton Brand). My view is that Landry is a much better player than Brand, whatever Brand was once, that Brooks is a better offensive player than our leading scorer, Mr. Iguodala, that Battier's about Iguodala's defensive equal, that Scola's a much better player than Thad, that Lowry's a better player than Lou Williams, and that Budinger's a lot better than the wing players we have coming off the bench. Thus explaining why they have a slightly above-average offense and we have a substantially below-average one.

But Battier looked to be respecting the shot since he had made those first two. Mentally, the advantage was with Jrue and he should have switched it up on Shane and dribble penetrated. (if i had to be picky)

Because if you read minds you want to take into account the experience and abilities of each player...they matter if you want to say that Jrue 'mentally' has an advantage against one of the best man defenders in the league...a guy who studies more basketball than most coaches

The run seems to always start with one of our players being greedy and dumb. This one started w/ Thad 3 times playing sloppy. I most often remember Green doing dumb things (I guess that is why I really do not like him as a basketball player??).

Elton is doing all he can to become a burden to this franchise. For every 2 or 3 good games he's gonna have 4 or 5 bad ones, i think thats all he is at this point. Worst contract in Philly sports history? Looks like it.sigh...

Well he's not worth it just because he's a defensive upgrade on Mareese Speights and he makes defenders think even when he's not scoring. That would describe more than half of the power forwards in the league.

Yes but EB was brought in with the intention of making us a contender in the East, at least a top 4 squad. We've gone backwards and the cap situation is right back where it started. Haha Ed Wade, but even good old Ed didn't give a contract to this magnitude. I think because EB is a class act, we are inclined to root for him, but we forget what he was originally brought in here to be. You are correct though, I am overreacting a bit due to his performance tonight

But even when he only scores 2 points on 5 shots, he affects the game in so many ways. (Which is true, actually, but sort of a pointless argument, unless you're trying to show that in spite of his often anemic offense he's good enough to be your third best guy, in which case it's a perfectly valid point.)

Agree. This is the best coached game by Jordan all year, IMO. And that is a shock for me to say. Far from perfect but I can live with this type of game. As one said earlier, the most enjoyable game to watch all year.

Even if Iguodala had scored 30 points before he missed those threes? Even if he were shooting 38% on the season? I mean, you can't compare the two at all. The one guy should never be taking them, the other's a good shooter; the one guy hasn't gone for 30 since December 7th, the other's done so 5 times since that date including tonight.

They wouldn't even have been in the game if not for Brooks. Just like we wouldn't be in most of the games we've lost if not for Iguodala. Of course Iguodala's a better player than Brooks, but he's not as good of a scorer and any sane fan would boo the guy when he shoots one of his patented airballs from three, since he is, after all, one of the worst shooters from distance in the league and really shouldn't be trying them. Just like Lakers fans, though they appreciate Artest's defense, may sometimes boo, and rightly so, some of his more ill-advised forays on the offensive end.

Yes, and even with the misses he's 6-11 from three. Other than that, this is a most unfortunate win. The way things are going we may not even pick 8th. Why Stefanski had to make Jordan start Brand is beyond me. I hope that he's not trying to save his job at the expense of our draft position.

He's obviously making decisions to save his job. So is Jordan. If Jordan coaches like he did tonight, we may even win enough games to get into the playoffs, depending on how many minutes Iverson sees when he gets back.

Then it's incumbent on ownership to fire him now and replace him with a GM committed to tanking. Develop the young guys, play Jrue and Speights 40 minutes each, fine, but stop running the team as if it has anything to play for.

Not a chance. There's no way either of these guys is going to get fired for winning. Counterproductive as it may be, we're stuck with them if the wins keep coming. Luckily, every team isn't as bereft of talent as the last four we've played.

I don't know. Effort and buying in and execution have a hell of a whole lot to do with it too.

They don't play like this every night. They really never have even in years past.

Like I said last night, a light bulb appears to have went off and they have put whatever BS aside and are just simply starting to believe. And they are playing as if they have each other's backs now, which is believing in each other.

They have always played up or down to their competition w/ Cheeks and DiLeo and Miller. They've never been a bring-it-every-night type of team. And they have always played more spirited on the road too.

I didn't say I expected the Sixers to play like this every night but agree with Brian's point about the crazy, hair-brained rotations.

It also hasn't helped that I don't feel that Jordan has a clue when it comes to drawing up a play at the end of the game.

I think it would be fair to assume this team should be aboue 23-27 or 24-26 right now. Not a quality team by any measure but certainly right about the mid-tier or slightly below in the NBA. Maybe 18th or 20th best team in the league.